The West Coast Skyline
by NFS LOVER
Summary: Henry Hannibal Haddock was a name that should have sent chills down any group looking to move in on the Hooligans' turf ... instead it was a constant reminder; a name Hiccup failed to live up to. Kicked out of his own mob, disowned by his father - he's now looking to make a name for himself. To show LA that they should fear not Hannibal Haddock, but Night Fury. Modern AU. Hiccstrid
1. An Ordinary Day

**A/N: I've been watching a lot of detective and crime shows, but in this fanfiction, the our favourite characters will be on the other side of the law, and you'll be following the story of Hiccup making his way to the top of the crime life in LA. But that does mean going into competition with people who know that he has a target on his back. **

**I put this as an M Rated story since there will be talks of drugs, sex, guns ... the lot. And I wasn't sure if I could post it as T Rated. So if I can, please tell me, or I'll leave it just as it is, which means access to sexual situations between many characters. **

_000_

It was another night in the city of LA. A city of lights, ambition, opportunity and a city famous for its night life. You had to be a movie star, politician, rich businessman or mob boss to get into such clubs. The latter was, usually, how people gained access to them. Connections with gangs such as the Berserkers or Meatheads gave you street-cred and respect among your people. But no group was more respected and more feared than Berk's Hairy Hooligans. They were a gang that specialized from drugs to gun trade, to money laundering and blackmailing. Their base was Berk County, a forty minute drive from their stomping grounds in LA.

Stoick the Vast was the man in charge of the County. It had to be hard managing an entire County while heading one of the most successful gangs in LA; but it wasn't for Stoick. In fact, things had become easier when he kicked his only son out. It was hard, but he had no choice. In fact, if he didn't, his second in command was going to kill him. And he wouldn't be able to sleep well, knowing that the two people he ever cared about were buried.

That's right. His wife had gone missing during a raid by rival gang members over twenty years ago and he's never heard a word from her since. He could only assume she's dead since the people who attacked him made no ransom demands and if she had escaped, she didn't make any attempt to contact him. But that was in the past now. He missed wife every single day, but he knew he couldn't change the past. He could only focus on keeping his business and gang strong and that meant keeping his head in the game and making sure every sale, every purchase and every threat was done efficiently and quietly as possible.

He had lost contact with his son ever since he kicked him out. He did it in such a harsh way too. But he had to make sure Hiccup took no risks in trying to come back to them since he knew they would kill him on sight if they saw him. Hiccup might have been a major screw-up, but he was still his son. He was going to pass down the business to him one day when it was time to retire. Now he was preparing his nephew, Scott Jorgenson ( a.k.a Snotlout), for the role. The nineteen year old had some of the makings of a good leader. He was hard-headed, stubborn and strong. Not afraid to make tough decisions. The downside was that he wasn't the sharpest knife in the crate. Money and girls were his weakness; the latter, for sure, would be his downfall. That's why he always had an adviser with him at all times, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

There were others coming up in his ranks as well. The Thorston Twins were usually the getaway drivers in drive-by shootings, they also worked as hired muscle. Most deals went okay with them around since the people were absolutely terrified of them. They were unpredictable which made them valuable assets, but sometimes liabilities. They also knew their guns and had certain contacts to get any merchandise the Hooligans needed.

Then there was Frederick 'Fishlegs' Norton. He was undoubtedly the brains behind the youngsters. He did the research on the buyers and sellers they deal with and makes sure their profits go in the right areas. If you needed to hack into a bank account or disappear, he was the guy you talked to as well. He never really saw action out in LA. He wasn't the type for it. The one time he joined his group on a deal was in a fish market where the sellers decided to double cross them. They stood their ground and fought, and won, but he had earned his nickname there after slipping so many times on fish heads, guts and tails. The name just stuck.

Finally, there was Astrid Hofferson. She was a real femme-fatale. Incredibly beautiful, sexy; he golden hair tied into a braid, hanging off her left shoulder. Usually dressed herself in tight blue jeans, a black tank top, a leather jacket that ended at her chest and black combat boots. She was fast, clean and straight to the point. She made sure that the people she negotiated with had their eyes on hers and no other part of her body, otherwise they'd lose something very important. Stoick trusted her decisions in the field and she took great pride in that.

All of them played a key role in the Hooligans. All held respectable positions. All were the future of the Hooligans and so far, it was looking good. Unfortunately, their is such a thing of the prodigal son returning ... and it isn't necessarily for the better.

_000_

"Did you get the dope?" Ripper asked the three black men on the other side of the table. It was another hot day in downtown LA, with a blistering thirty two Celsius on the radio. Ripper and Hiccup had arranged a buy in one of the old apartment buildings; which happened to be in the 'not so nice' area of LA. Which meant it would be normal if the residents heard gunshots if things were to go wrong.

"Yeah, it's all here" one of the men said, pulling out a transparent package of a white powder in it. "One kilo of pure heroin. That'll be a 100k now, gentlemen" he said, placing it on the table. "But let me see the money first" he said.

"Come on man. That wasn't part of the plan" Ripper said.

"I'm sorry. But I need to know if the money is real or not. Can't be too careful with all the other gangs going on around here" he said. "We're just trying to make a name for ourselves."

"Just show him the brief case, Ripper" Hiccup called from behind him. Ripper gave a hard stare to the representative in front of him before pulling up the case in his hand and placing it on the table. He flipped the locks, opened it and turned it towards the three men.

"A 100k right there, gentlemen. Now, let me see the merchandise" Ripper said, taking the package from the man, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a switchblade. He made a small cut before pulling taking some a minuscule amount and tasting it. "Something's off" he said, placing the package back down. This grabbed the attention of the three men, who already had the brief case of one hundred thousand dollars on their side of the table.

"Does it need to be verified?" Hiccup asked, getting up and bringing in his duffel bag. Ripper nodded in confirmation, looking up to make sure the others didn't make any sudden movements. Hiccup stood beside him, placed the duffel down and pulled out a machine. The main guy looked at it and knew exactly what it was. It was a machine used by many pharmaceutical companies when testing the purity of drugs. Hiccup took a sample from the package and began running it in the machine. "We'll find it soon enough how much that package is worth" he said. He wasn't going to be robbed by some wannabe gangsters.

"I'm telling you man. That shit is the real deal" the guy said, clearly getting anxious.

"Sorry, but I like a second opinion from this baby" Hiccup said, patting the machine lightly. The three men looked at each other. They knew once the result came that they would be busted. A beep from the machine confirmed their fears when they saw Hiccup's facial expressions look like one of surprise and frustration.

"What is it?" Ripper asked, reaching for his gun that he kept at his back, underneath the suit he was wearing.

"It's only three percent pure" Hiccup said, looking up at his partner. At that moment, the three sellers pulled out their pistols and aimed at the two of them.

"What the Hel is this!? We come prepared to pay you 100k and you just look to cheat us with this crap?!" Ripper asked, putting his hands up while Hiccup kept his hands on the table near the machine.

"Business is tough, man. We do what we can without trying to get into the firing line of the bigger fish" he said.

"You'll never make the big leagues. Small fish like you will be gobbled up by the Outcasts, Berserkers, Meatheads; Hel, you name it. In fact, you'd be riddled with bullets if you tried to scam Stoick" said Ripper.

"And what makes you two think that you have a shot at making a name for yourselves? You think we don't know who you are?" he asked, aiming the gun at Hiccup. "Your Stoick's boy ... or _was _his boy. Now you have a target on your head. A target worth 75k if we bring you back to them. Now, here's what I'm thinking ... you guys leave the 100k with us, and we let you go" he suggested.

"Sorry, but that ain't happening" said Hiccup with an emotionless face.

"You're not in a position to make demands boy! We're not scared of some failure who's trying to make poppy love him again" the man said.

"Who said I was trying to make him love me?" he asked. At that moment, Hiccup threw the package of heroin onto the floor, catching the attention of all the men in the room for two seconds ... and that was all Ripper needed. His hand flew to his back, pulled out a Colt Mk. V, or better known as a King Cobra and fired a shot at each of the men. Due to failed meetings in the past, he had taken the liberty to fix a silencer to avoid any unwanted confrontations with the law or any other resident in the house who had ties to other gangs.

With the confusion, the main man didn't have time to register what was going on. He looked to his friends, only to see them on the ground with a bullet hole over their heart. He looked back to Ripper only to meet the same fate. Another meeting gone wrong.

"We should really start wearing masks. Just so they don't know who you are" Ripper commented as he walked up to the body to retrieve their case of money.

"Just another perk of being the son of the most feared crime boss on this side of California" Hiccup casually spoke. He was starting to become extremely annoyed at how many small time buyers and sellers were trying to turn him in. It meant that he and Ripper got no where in their climb up the ladder. If the deal had gone smoothly, and if the men had brought at least forty percent pure heroin, then they could have got into business with them; finally having a supplier. But no, they had to try and cheat them with fake dope.

Ripper grabbed the guns off the dead men and placed them in the duffel bag Hiccup brought his machine in. He wasn't just going to leave them lying around. If the drug business couldn't work, they could try the guns department. And pistols were a best bet as any to start with. "Three more pistols. You know, people might think we're serious with the guns" he said.

"When in truth they just represent the our failure of trying to get into the drug business" his partner said, looking at the package that had powder strewn from it on the floor.

"Come on. Don't want any tenants to discover us with them" Ripper said, walking past Hiccup and opening the door for him. Hiccup gave one last look to their sellers, before grabbing the bag, and walking out, with Ripper closing the door behind them and following him. The two walked out into the busy streets, Ripper tucking his gun back into its place and the two of them looking as casual as the person who just walked past them ... well, as casual can be.

Hiccup opened the trunk of his 1967 Shelby GT500, placed the duffel in there with a thud and walked to the driver's door. "You should get a more discreet car, you know? I know there other 1967 Shelby's going around town, but not as much as Toyota Prius" Ripper said with a laugh.

"This is a car I got okay. I'm not going to sell it"

"A birthday gift when you turned fifteen from your father, and I didn't say sell it. We can steal some other car, make sure no tracking device is on it, you disable it with all your tech skills, and boom ... you have your second car and you're only twenty" he said as the engine rumbled to life.

"What about you? I'm not going to drive you around since it's dangerous enough for me as it is. And we don't want people to think we're working together, now do we? That just means more heat on you" Hiccup brought in as he pulled away from the curb. Their destination was their small apartment on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't any sort of building like in Downtown LA, Crestwood Hills, Holmby Hills, Hollywood and so on. It was just a place to lay low and not attract too much attention. They didn't need that right now.

Hel, they probably had about twenty guys after them from killing small time buyers and sellers who tried to cheat them, then try and make them a deal of having the money or drugs and letting Hiccup go. Ripper always made sure they answered to the barrel of his gun. It was a twenty minute drive from where they were; a large light, yellow building with the paint fading as fast as people ripping off customers in the city. There were known gang members living in the building but not from the Berserkers, Meatheads, Bog Burglars and definitely not the Hooligans since most of them resided in Berk County.

They lived on the fourth floor. Since that was one of the few taller buildings in the area, they had a decent view of the LA's famous skyline, which was in a class of its own during the night. Hiccup dropped the back on the couch and while Ripper made himself comfortable on the recliner.

"How about I go and do the deals while you wait in the car?" he suggested as Hiccup handed him a beer.

"Remember last time what happened when I let you do a deal alone?" Hiccup asked, looking over a few takeout menus they kept.

"How was I supposed to know they'd try and gang up on me?"

"Everyone knows that" Hiccup replied. "You go in by yourself while they're four other guys in there ... with guns ... and you try and be all high and mighty. Chinese tonight?"

"You know it ... but come on. They heard about me and how I can clear a room out" Ripped said in defense. He was right about that. Ripper was one of the best 'clean shots' in LA; maybe even California. That's how he took down the three men earlier so efficiently and quickly. A single bullet to the heart.

"Well it's your fault for not expecting them to try and tip the deal in their favour."

"You should really learn to keep your gun with you, you know that right?" he asked.

"I don't like the thing. A constant reminder that something might go wrong" Hiccup said as he took his phone and dialed the number of the restaurant.

"What do you think has happened over the past five deals?" Ripper exclaimed. "You need to bring your gun. Don't think of it as a beacon of attention. Think of it as 'I'll have your back if shit goes down'."

"Ah yes, Hello?" he asked, through to the takeout guy. "Yes I'd like to make an order for two medium fried rice, your famous sizzling beef, chicken cashew and spring rolls. That's it. Thank you" he hung up. "Meal will be here in half an hour" he said, placing is phone down. "And getting back to you on that, if they see I have a gun, they'll argue that it was in self-defense and shoot me. Besides, I'm not good with a gun and you know that" he said, walking up to the coffee table, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.

"Which is why I've offered to help teach you. We can go to the junkyard and I'll help train you. Trust me, Hiccup. It'll come in handy if I'm not there to cover your arse" he said laughing.

"You're not leaving me, are you Ripper?"

"You won't survive ten seconds without me" he said as they brought their beers together.

"You're a true friend" Hiccup said as he took a swing of his beer.

"Hey, we need all the friends we can get in this line of work" he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"And four years ago, I thought family was supposed to be the best kind of support" he said. Ripper knew where he was going with this.

"Let it go, dude. You've moved on from them. Might not be living the life like you used to, but we'll get there. Don't you worry about it" Ripper tried to cheer him up. He saw Hiccup staring at the now, dusk skyline of LA, his heads clearly filled with someone he knew and loved teasing about. "So, get in touch with your girlfriend?" He smiled when Hiccup looked back at him with a 'Are you serious?' expression. "You're the one staring off into the skyline with a look of longing, not me."

"No. I'm not thinking about her" was all Hiccup said before returning his attention back to the TV.

"You know that is a load of crap. Have you tried to get in touch with her at all?"

"No! I cut off all my ties when they kicked me out. Besides, it's not like she ever paid any attention to me then. And would have changed now?" he asked. He didn't like it all when Ripper talked about her. "Why can't you just drop it? You know very well I haven't tried to get in contact with her, and if I did, she would report it to my father"

"I heard she's coming up in the ranks of the Hooligans. Oh, I also heard she dumped her boyfriend" he said.

"Eret? Why would she dump him? I mean he has the looks, his bulging muscles, tattoo on the chin; girls go crazy when they see him. I bet he's slept with every girl from the gang and..." Hiccup stopped his rant when he saw Ripper, out of the corner of his eye, shooting him a sly smirk.

"I never said what the boyfriend's name was" he said. Hiccup slapped his forehead hard. He just walked into that trap. "And you're wrong. She never slept with him" he said.

"How do you know?" asked Hiccup.

"Think about it, man. Astrid was only dating him for about five months. She definitely had make-out sessions with him, but sex - no."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Astrid would have her group of friends about it. And I happen to know a girl from that group. And before you ask, no she's not with the Hooligans. She's a waitress at the APPLE, you know that extremely exclusive club that the Hooligans hang out at? Of course you know. So yeah, she's seen them kiss, but Astrid's never told her about having sex with him."

"She doesn't have to tell anyone, you know? She could just keep it between her and Eret" Hiccup didn't seem convinced.

"But she told me that that's why she broke up with him ... because he wanted have sex with her and she felt she wasn't ready. Believe you me, I wouldn't be telling you this if it meant your heart would be crushed at the knowledge of her having sex" Ripper said.

"Okay ... but that still doesn't mean I'm going to try and talk to her" he added.

"Fair enough" replied Ripper. "Oh, Game of Thrones is on! Hush now!" he said, as he turned his full attention to the TV, as did Hiccup.

Yep, another ordinary day for in LA.


	2. Payday

**A/N: I can't begin to describe the emotions I have from seeing such a wonderful response to the first chapter. I knew a Crime story for HTTYD was hardly to never done, and I was taking a big risk with it, but I'm really glad that you guys loved it and I am hoping you will stick through it to the end. **

**Anyway, if you've noticed the cover photo for this story, I wanted to have the Night Fury symbol around the moon with the title to make it more authentic ... but I didn't have the skills for that and that it was just too much trouble since I couldn't find a decent symbol. But anyway, enjoy the second chapter of this new installment.**

**Also, I wanted to ask what would all of you prefer. I'm thinking of introducing Toothless and everyone else but not as dragons (of course) but I have two options:**

**1) I introduce them as people.**

**2) I had this idea of introducing them as wolves (Don't ask me why). Toothless of course will be black if he is a wolf but I wanted to hear your guys opinions. **

**So those are the two options. Please PM me or leave your answer in your review. Thank you. Now ... on with the show!**

_000_

Hiccup loved that sound ... the sound of his alarm going off at 7:30 in the morning when he remembered that he didn't set the alarm on his phone. He pushed the pillow away from his head and reached over to his bedside table, took the phone, shut the alarm off, and burying himself in his covers again. He was about to doze off for a few more hours when, "Hiccup wake up" he heard Ripper say.

"Go away, Ripper. It's seven thirty for Thor's sake" he said, turning around so he wouldn't have to see his face if he opened his eyes.

"I thought we could get an early start to the day."

"At what?" Hiccup asked. He turned around to give Ripper his annoyed stare but he ended up staring down the barrel of his Cobra.

"Ah!" he yelled, jumping away from the gun and falling onto the floor, on the other side of the thin bed. "Why would you do that!?" he whined, reaching up to the edge of the bed and pulling himself up.

"To get my point across the table" said Ripper, tucking his gun into the back of his pants. "I keep my gun under my pillow in case someone tries to break in. I keep it under my pillow so that if people did get the drop on me, they wouldn't count on being shot at the side of a bed. The reason I set your alarm for seven thirty in the morning is for us to head to the junkyard and have some target practice for you" he said as Hiccup got on his feet, and stretched out his stiff back.

"Alright, alright. You made your point. Just let me have a shower and make my breakfast" Hiccup said, walking to the bathroom.

"I'll have scrambled eggs with bacon and toast" Ripper said, walking into the living room.

"Why do I have to make _your _breakfast?" he called from the bathroom as he turned the shower on.

"Because I had to wake up at seven in the morning!" replied Ripper. Hiccup grumbled something under his breath about Ripper being a smart and lazy ass. A combination he rarely saw.

_000 (30 Minutes __Later)_

On the other side of LA, in Berk County, the Hooligans were getting ready for another huge deal. Today they had to ship a truckload of guns to a Mexican drug cartel. They wouldn't be able to cross the boarder with it, even though there were ways of getting them by undetected ... but that would be a lot of work. Something Scott didn't like.

That's right. Stoick had given the responsibility of this deal to Snotlout. Spitelout managed to convince him, with the reason that if Scott would inherit the business from his uncle, he had to get a feel of how it works and that usually meant working in the field and overseeing the deals themselves instead of relying on others. Stoick was reluctant to give his nephew the reins. But he had to admit he was nothing like Henry; and at that time, Stoick didn't even give his son the lead on any deal, and he still managed to screw it up.

Right now, they were in one of the large warehouses in Berk, where the truck was kept. Astrid, the Twins, Fishlegs, Scott, Eret, Spitelout and Stoick were present as Gobber went over the details.

Oh yes, Gobber was Stoick's source for guns. He used to be part of the army, but lost part of his arm and leg in a training mission that took place in the Middle East. He was honourably discharged and he came back to Berk, where his best friend, Stoick, offered him a job as his main supplier of guns. Gobber grabbed the opportunity immediately. For one, it paid way better than the army and second, Stoick trusted him. There were times when they bought guns that were claimed to be in impeccable condition ... that they couldn't be traced. Gobber could tell if they were traceable just by looking at them. And when Stoick took them apart, ninety nine percent of the time, his friend was right. He was just that good.

"Now ... I hope ye all are ready for this deal" he said as he led them to the back of the container.

"Are you kidding me? I was born ready for this!" Scott exclaimed, bumping his fists together.

"This is the first time we're dealing with these guys. So I need you to make sure this goes off without a hitch" Stoick spoke directly to his nephew. He then turned to Astrid, who was walking right beside him. "Make sure this goes off without a hitch. You've brokered many meets before, so I'm trusting you on this" he said softly.

"You got it Chief" she said with a firm nod. She took great pride in being in the Chief's eye. After all, she had to step it up when Henry was kicked out since she knew Scott wouldn't be any better at the job. He always had this 'holier than thou' attitude when meeting with clients; thinking himself as ten times better than they were, even in his own gang. Astrid made sure he didn't get out of line too much and she was the one who represented the Hooligans. Shed be lying if she said she didn't know that she a chance to become the leader of the Hooligans once her Chief retired. That's what she was striving for.

"So, where are we heading?" Thomas asked. He was also known as Tuffnut. He and his twin sister were, what you would call, unstable; in a good, crazy way.

"To the port of Los Angeles. There's a freighter waiting there for this shipment. In exchange for the guns, they're handing over one million dollars worth of heroin and ecstasy" Stoick confirmed. The young adults and late teens stopped in their tracks.

"Holy shit. One million dollars worth?" Astrid asked. She could scarcely believe it.

"Yes. Our job will be to sell it on the streets and ship it to other states. That's why we need this deal to go off without a hitch. Do I make myself clear?" he asked, turning around to face them all.

"Yes sir" they all responded.

"Good" he said, turning and heading to the cars. "Eret will be driving the truck. Scott, Tuff, Fishlegs - you will be in this" he said, gesturing to the 2012 Lincoln Navigator. "Astrid and Ruffnut, you two will be in this" he said, gesturing to the black 2013 Chevrolet Camaro.

"No fair! Shouldn't I get that car since I'll be the one leading this deal?" Scott asked as Tuff and Fishlegs hopped in the four by four.

"Since you're the one in charge of this deal, we need you to look presentable, and riding in the back of that _big _car with two 'bodyguards' is a good first message to send across our current and future clients" Stoick explained. Luckily for him, his nephew bought it and with a scowl, hopped into the back of the Navigator. Stoick rubbed his temple. Sometimes his nephew could be a real spoiled brat. Maybe that was because his father got him everything he wanted ... and with force.

"Come all of you! Head out there and represent the Hooligans with pride" shouted Stoick. The young adults sounded their horns as they left; the Navigator going first, followed by the container, and then the Camaro. It would be about a forty minute drive to the ports. Time enough for Ruffnut to find what was going on in Astrid's life.

"So ... how's it"

"I don't want to talk about it" Astrid shut her up.

"You didn't even know what I was going to ask" said Ruffnut.

"You were going to ask what happened between me and Eret. We broke up. End of story. There's nothing more to that" she explained to her best friend. She had met Eret when he wanted to join the Hooligans. Stoick put her in charge of him, much to Ruffnut's displeasure, and the two had the pleasure of working deals together. About after a month when they first met, Eret took the plunge and kissed her when they were in their club, the APPLE. The kiss took them into one of the closets and an intense make-out session took place and things might have gone even further if Ruffnut didn't find them. Astrid had then spent the whole week trying to get Ruff to talk to her again.

It was a complicated relationship as they had everything going for them. He treated her with respect unlike most of the men in their line of work, she found him ... relatively attractive and handsome on many levels; the tattoo was also a turn-on. But she didn't want to move into sex even though they had been dating for over three months, and he wondered why. In this line of work, you have hookers and prostitutes that sex was common on so many levels. And that's what Astrid found was the problem.

Sex was everyday life for certain members of gangs.

Before it used to be a sacred bond between two people alone. Now ... it was something just to get a rush or feel pleasure. Call her crazy, but she thought Eret was working her up for that specific moment, even though he never showed any intentions of doing it. But she had noticed his lustful stares and the compromising positions he would purposefully put them in once they were alone.

She felt that if she was going to have sex, it would be with a man that she hopes to spend her life with ... or until her willpower breaks down completely.

"What we had was now gone, Ruff. He and I are in the market now" she said as they turned onto another street.

"You really think he'll be thinking about me, Hofferson? I mean, look at you! You could literally have every single man in LA tied to you by your pinkie" she said, waving said finger around. "I mean, you have the body, eyes, face, hair, legs, waist, boobs and ass ... all the qualities that a woman could have to get a man into bed ... and on you, they're all perfection" she said, resting her elbow against the window sill. Their windows were rolled down to enjoy the nice, warm day and feel the wind as they drove.

"I appreciate all the lovely comments ... but if you want to date Eret now, he's in the market. Just get him to like you" she tried to convince her.

"That won't be easy after he's dated a walking margarita" she said, resting her chin against her arm.

"Excuse me?" Astrid asked, as they stopped at a red light behind the container and she stared at her friend with a confused expression.

"Margarita! It's a simple cocktail but one of the best drinks out there. I heard people say you never forget your first Margarita. Eret certainly won't forget that" she said.

"I can't believe my friend is comparing me to an over-the-counter cocktail ... and an extremely common one at that" she said.

"Hey ... it's popular and everyone wants a piece of it ... or, they want the whole drink. You're lucky, you know that?" Ruff said.

"Thank you, Ruff. No, seriously ... thank you" Astrid said as she turned and looked to her side mirror.

This was going to be a long day.

_000 (Ten Minutes Earlier)_

"Come on, Hiccup. Get your ass down here" Ripper yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Since it wasn't an apartment building in Hollywood or Santa Monica, they didn't have the luxury of elevators and had to make due with one main stairwell in the building. The building's car park was what you wouldn't call big. There were just four spaces in front of the building that were carved into the pavement when the structure was first made, and the road next to it. Ripper was loading the duffel bag that contained the guns they would be practicing with into the trunk of the car.

He had packed in a few pistols with a few assault rifles. He had packed a M16A1 and a FN Mk. 17 SCAR. They were the only two assault rifles they had; ones Hiccup managed to steal from his dad before leaving. "So, what's the plan for today?" he heard Hiccup's voice echo as he reached the bottom of the stairs.

"We'll be heading to Dave's Car Cemetery***** for some target practice. It's one of my many places for target practice" he said as he closed the trunk and headed to the driver's door. **  
**

"Why are you driving?" Hiccup asked as he held the keys.

"Because I know where it is. Now, toss 'em over" he said, gesturing to the keys. With a roll of his eyes, Hiccup tossed the keys to Ripper and before you knew it, they were on their way to the Car Cemetery.

"I got in touch with another potential seller" Ripper said, striking up conversation.

"Not another wannabe producer" Hiccup groaned as tiredly turned his head to stare out the open window of the car.

"This is not heroin, it's ecstasy so it wouldn't cost as much" his partner and friend tried to convince him.

"Even still! They're going to try and rob us somehow if I come ... and I _have _to come since I'm the only one who knows how to operate that machine and stop you from making idiotic deals" he said.

"First of all ... they try and sweeten their deal because you show up and since you're a wanted man among the crime business, 75k is a lot of money for those deadbeats. So don't go blaming me for whatever deal takes a shitty turn" Ripper shot back. Their voices were escalating since both were annoyed at the fact that they weren't getting anywhere in this drug selling and buying business. They couldn't arrange meetings with the more established gangs since Hiccup had a target on his head, so that only meant that small time or wannabe kings were there sources for drugs ... and crap drugs at that.

"We'll give this ecstasy thing a shot" Hiccup suddenly spoke as they stopped at a red light.

"You serious?" Ripper asked, glancing at Hiccup out of the corner of his eye.

"We have to keep trying right?" he sighed. "We have to keep trying until we get that big score ... no matter how long it takes" Hiccup added the last part after a deep breath.

"That might be a while" Ripper spoke, turning to look at him with a small smile.

"Yeah well, Rome wasn't built in a day" Hiccup said.

"Don't use that Roman crap on me, Hic. It gets really old" Ripper said with a laugh.

"What would you do with your share of the money once we hit that 'big score'?" asked Hiccup.

"Spend it on a car most likely ... maybe that black Camaro over there" he said. Hiccup followed Ripper's gaze and his eyes landed on a 2012 Black Camaro that was behind a container. The car was heading straight from the traffic lights, being in the centre lane, and they'd be turning left. They were just two cars down from it.

"That car? Come on man, go for a Mustang" said Hiccup.

"I said it was a possibility. Besides, you know muscle cars are shit when it comes to handling. I might go for a Benz ... maybe a BMW ... depending on how much money I'll have leftover." Just then the green light for cars turning left came on, and the line of cars slowly started moving. The two didn't even look to see who was driving the black Camaro ... but they didn't care. It was another Camaro in LA. Who could have possibly been in it?

They soon reached the junkyard which was on the outskirts of the city, away from any residents who would be able to hear the shots. There no real guard by the entrance either. You could come by, drop your car for scrap and leave ... Hel, you could even take a car if you wanted to ... not that there were cars you wanted to take.

"So, what do we start off with first?" Hiccup asked, slamming the door shut and heading to the trunk to get the guns.

"Hold on, let me set up the targets" Ripper replied, running to a table that was set up in front of a rundown ninety's Buick. There were some old oil cans that already had bullet holes in them, that he picked up and placed on the table. He had twenty cans in total but he was placing two sets of six of them in the form of a pyramid while he kept the rest of them in a row. Meanwhile, Hiccup was going over the guns they had. He stayed away from the assault rifles since he was still a novice gun shooter, and looked over the pistols.

There were three Desert Eagle Mk. VII pistols, caliber .44 Magnum. They were serious guns. He wondered, as he picked one up, where Ripper had even got them. There were Beretta 92's and four Coonan's.

"Where'd you get all these guns?" Hiccup asked as he was joined by Ripper and loaded up bullets.

"I have my sources, Hiccup. It's better if you didn't know" he said as he cocked a Beretta, and gave one to Hiccup, and led him to where he needed to stand. "Okay, so I haven't taught anyone how to use a gun, but listen to all my points and you'll be able to do this in no time" and with that he fired six shots at the one of the two pyramids of cans; each shot hitting a can and knocking them to the ground.

Hiccup stared dumbfounded. "Are you freakin' kidding me?! I'll never be able to do that!" he said, looking at Ripper but gesturing with his arm to the bullet riddled cans on the ground.

"Not with that attitude you're won't" Ripper said, placing the gun back at his waist. "Now I want you to aim and try and hit the top can of the second pyramid" he said.

"Are you kidding me? And from this distance ... I won't"

"Hiccup ... just do it. If you get it on the first shot, well and good. But if you don't we'll work on it" Ripper said, calmly as he folded his arms. "Now take the shot. You have fifteen rounds in that so don't worry" he said. Hiccup looked back at his targets which were about seventeen metres away. He brought both hands to the handle of the gun, closed his left eye, aimed and shot. The first one missed the top can and hit the Buick behind the table.

"Dammit" Hiccup muttered, dropping the gun to his side.

"Try again" Ripper said. Hiccup brought the gun back up, held it with two hands, aimed and fired. It missed again but seeing the spark from where the bullet hit the car, he was getting closer. "This isn't the first time you've fired a gun, is it?" he asked.

"No. I did practice a little back on my dad's firing range but, wasn't good then either" Hiccup said, taking his time and aiming. He fired one just for the heck of it, but his eyes widened he saw the can fly backwards and onto the ground.

"I hit it" he muttered, as he lowered his gun; not believing that he had actually _hit it_.

"Great job H..."

"I actually hit it! Yes! Yes! Yes!" he yelled, jumping into the air and doing a fist punch.

"Woah watch it! Firearm in your hand ... remember?" Ripper said, trying to calm him down. He was proud that Hiccup managed to hit the target but he didn't want the next target to be himself or Hiccup.

"Right, right ... sorry. But, whoo! That was awesome!" he said laughing.

"I'm really happy too, Hiccup. Really, I am. But you need to work on a few things" he said coming up close to him now that he knew he had calmed down. "First, you're taking your time aiming. Now I know you're just a novice shooter, but that time is critical. It can make the difference between walking away or being left to rot until someone comes and finds you. So I want you to do this" he said, coming to his right side. He raised his arm which still held the gun and pointed it towards the remaining stack of cans. "Hit the cans without closing your eye and like this" he said walking back for Hiccup to take the shots.

"Seriously?" Hiccup asked, looking at Ripper, but keeping his hand in the air.

"It's a useful skill to hone, Hiccup. You don't have to take the time and aim, but you're aim will be better" he said. "Now look at your targets, aim as best you can and shoot" he instructed. Hiccup did so. He aimed the gun as straight as possible at the centre of the stacked cans and fired three shots. The three shots hit three cans as they fell over.

"See. You think it's hard at first but it's relatively easy once you try it" Ripper explained. "Now, try and hit those eight remaining cans" he said, pointing to the row of cans that were spaced about forty centimetres apart. "For this you can take the time and aim."

Hiccup sighed in thanks as he closed his left eye and aimed his gun. The first shot missed the can and hit the trunk of the Buick. Now, on any other day, he would have tried again, but he noticed a cloud of powder appear through the holes in the trunk's hood. He opened his eye and focused more closely, and could see traces of powder falling. "Did you see that?" he asked, turning to Ripper.

"Yeah" he said, as he also returned the gaze. Ripper then pulled out his gun just in case there was a surprise waiting for them, and they both advanced slowly onto the car. They walked around the table and to saw that there was in fact some sort of powder on the trunk.

"Did this ever happen when you trained alone here?" Hiccup asked.

"No"

They looked at each other, before nodding, and Hiccup slowly placed his hand on the boot release button, and pressed it and watched as the trunk lid flew open.

"Holy shit" the both of them said at the same time.


	3. Night Fury

**A/N: I see that most of you would like the dragons to appear as canines in this fanfiction and that IS what is going to happen. I'd like to thank you all for you inputs. I was deciding on writing them as humans but that'd be taking away their roles as loyal companions. Also, I'd like to thank 'Malik The Night Angel' for an idea on how to introduce them. **

_000_

It had been five minutes since they opened the trunk of the car and they still couldn't come to terms with what they found. They were standing there, both arms hanging loosely at their sides and if their jaws could reach the ground, they would have in that instant. They hadn't spoken a word to each other; the only muscle they moved were their eyelids, from blinking repeatedly to make sure the late morning heat wasn't getting to them in anyway.

Because right in front of them were thirteen packs of unknown drugs.

"That isn't heroin, is it?" Hiccup asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Can't say for sure until I taste it" Ripper said, looking at the brick*** **that had a gunshot hole in it and the mystery drug sprayed around it. He ran his index finger on the powder and placed the fingertip with the drug on the tip of his tongue.

"Well what is it?" asked Hiccup.

"Heroin ... and the good kind of it" he said, wiping his hand on his jacket. He then began looking around the junkyard. "Weird ... if this is good quality, who would be leaving it out here unguarded?" he asked. There was no guard post at the entrance, and he if there was a silent alarm, he should have tripped it months ago since he's been coming and going for a while now.

"It is a relatively remote location though. On the outskirts of LA and on the desert side of it, plus hundreds of cars piled on top of one another; maybe the person just needed to hide somewhere for a while. Maybe things were a bit tough and he had to hide them" Hiccup suggested.

"But don't you think he would have come back for it?"

"I don't know! We better stop talking about this idiotic person and figure out what we're going to do with this stuff" Hiccup said, gesturing to the trunk.

"Isn't it obvious? We're gonna take all of it. Well, except the one that has a gunshot hole in it."

"Take all of it?" Hiccup asked again.

"Well, what do you expect we do?"

"What if the person or people these belong to come back and find that their stash has been taken? And judging by the looks of these, they could belong to the Berserkers, Outcasts, Bog Burglars, Meatheads; maybe even the Hooligans! And I don't think we're prepared for a gang war if it's just the two of us" he said, pointing to himself and Ripper.

"Hiccup ... look at this!" Ripper pleaded with him, gesturing to the trunk, "This is our _chance_ to get into business! If the drugs turn out to be good quality ... we'll make hundreds of thousands of dollars! That'll definitely be enough to buy more drugs for distribution. We can even start a gun drive with the money we'll get from these bricks! This is _your way out_, Hiccup. This is _your _ticket into the big leagues. Please don't pass up this opportunity" Ripper pleaded.

Hiccup looked from his begging friend, a sight he rarely saw, to the trunk. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't even thinking about what Ripper had just told him. This was his way out. It may not have been the way he wanted which was to build connections with suppliers and buyers, just like his father did, but if all those packages turned to be good quality, he could finally buy drugs from reliable suppliers and distribute them, he could get into the gun business like Ripper said; Hel, maybe even money laundering if they wanted to. He knew he'd be considered a fool if he didn't take this opportunity. He looked back to Ripper.

"Watch out LA, there's a new guy on the block" he said with his signature grin.

"Yes!" Ripper yelled, ecstatic that they were finally in it. "I'll bring the car in" he said, still smiling like a kid on Christmas running, running to the Mustang. Hiccup looked back to the trunk, the noise of a rumbling seven litre V8 running rampant in the background as he heard the noise grow louder, meaning that Ripper had brought it right next to the Buick. Hiccup opened the passenger door and reached for his bag in the back seat, unzipping it and pulling out a laptop.

"What are you doing?" asked Ripper as he stepped out and proceeded to unload the packages into the trunk of their car.

"Checking to make sure there aren't any cameras in this area" he said, as he typed in a few programs.

"Smart thinking" Ripper commented as he walked back and forth between the cars. Hiccup pulled up a few programs on his Mac, checking for any cameras on the road they came on in the area. If there were cameras, he could easily hack into them and put them on a time loop for a time. He might not be a touch gangster ... yet, but give him a laptop and he could work magic. Luckily, there weren't any cameras for a two mile radius. That should a safe window for them. Then again, he didn't expect whoever this person or group had the tech or hacking skills to find them, but making sure never hurt anyone.

"Is there anything?" Ripper called as he closed the trunk.

"Nothing. We're in the clear" Hiccup replied as he shut his laptop, placed it back in his bag and zipped it up.

"Well then, come on. I know just who to ask about clients" he said, hopping into the driver's seat.

"Who?" he asked, getting into the seat.

"You'll see" Ripper said with a grin as he floored the gas, and leaving a cloud of dust as they drove off.

_000 (At The Same Time)_

"So is the deal good?" Astrid asked the potential suppliers. They were by a ship bound for Mexico in the port of LA. The person in charge of the dock the ship was docked at was bribed not to speak a word of the deal. They believed he wouldn't since who wouldn't do that when they handed you twenty thousand in cash. They could consider it a 'special' bonus.

There were ten Hispanic men, seven with AK 47's in plain sight, just for precaution in case they were double crossed. They were spread out, some standing next to containers and a few others were standing behind the three people who would be representing them. The leader of the group, and a representative of the boss, a guy called Pedro, was in their container, checking over the shipment of guns they brought. Snotlout was supposed to lead this deal, but after saying the wrong line and, partly insulting the man, Astrid gave him a swift punch to the face and apologized on behalf of the Hooligans and said she'd take over the deal. Everything since then had gone smoothly, and with a smile and a nod of the head, Pedro's men began moving the crates of guns into a container nearby, which would be loaded onto the ship and on its way to Mexico City.

Pedro did compliment Astrid of her amazing control and leadership, and said that he'd want to do dealings with her only from now on when his boss needed a new shipment of guns. Astrid marked it down mentally and knew she was one step closer to implementing her position as the successor after her Chief. In just twenty minutes, the guns were loaded into the Mexicans' container and had already began loading it onto the freighter.

"And here is the payment" Pedro said, dropping a golf back which surely had the drugs in it. Astrid walked over to it, with Ruffnut who had a pistol in her hand, and unzipped it.

"I thought the deal was for drugs?" Astrid said, looking back to him.

"Eight hundred thousand dollars isn't enough?" he asked.

"No. Sorry if my tone betrays other feelings, but the deal was for one million dollars worth of cocaine."

"I'm terribly sorry, but Alejandro couldn't quite get the packages here on time. And since the situation back home is tough, he hoped you'd settle for the money" he explained. "I'm sure you'll find something to do with that. Perhaps use it to buy from other suppliers in your area" he suggested as he gave his men the signal to board the ship.

"Now wait just a minute..." Snotlout said, walking past Eret, Fishlegs and Tuff who had SCARS' in their grasp. As Snotlout walked forward, Pedro's men had raised their guns and aimed them at all the Hooligans who were present.

"Please don't make this deal turn worse. Your friend here already salvaged most of respect that I had before you opened your mouth. Don't make me leave behind five Hooligans and have a target on my back" he said.

"Get back in your damn car, Snotlout!" Astrid yelled, moving past him and getting herself between Snotlout and Pedro. "Before I give you another bruise" she warned again. Snotlout gave a huff of hot air before turning around and walking back to the Navigator.

"I really hope for your gangs' sake that you become the next Leader" said Pedro, as he signaled his men to lower their weapons and continue boarding. "Look, I'm sure you'll find another supplier and you can buy your drugs off them, and we'll bring the drugs as payment next time round" he said with a smile, before turning around and following his men. Astrid looked down to the golf back full of money. This was good payment, but they had been expecting drugs. That's the only reason this deal was set up in the first place. They're running low on their own stocks and needed a new supplier in their books. But at least she got the confirmation that they'd be conducting deals with them again.

"Load up guys. We gotta tell the Chief about this" she said, zipping the back and slinging the strap of the bag onto her left shoulder.

"He's not going to like this" Eret commented, hopping back into the truck.

"Well ... hopefully he has a backup plan" Ruff said as they got into their respective cars and began the journey back to Berk.

_000_

"What are we doing in Santa Monica?" Hiccup asked as they got out of the car which Ripper had parked in front of an apartment building. It was not a rundown one like the ones in the streets of LA, or in the parts that were filled with gang wars. This one was just built two years ago, and all the apartments were already occupied. Each room had terraces with glass doors. Most of the terraces had potted plants, exotic plants by the looks of it. He even saw a large swimming pool on the side of the building; most likely for the residents' use.

"Your friend lives here? He must be pretty successful" Hiccup said as they walked through the main doors.

"She" Ripper corrected him, as he gave a nod to the receptionist and the two of them walked to the elevator.

"She?" Hiccup asked, as the familiar elevator 'ding' sounded and the doors opened.

"Yeah. Is that so shocking?" Ripper asked as they stepped into the elevator and he pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.

"It's just that you said you wouldn't want to have a relationship if the girl was in our line of work" Hiccup reminded.

"Yeah ... well, she isn't" replied Ripper as the elevator reached the floor and they stepped out, Hiccup following Ripper as he led them to a room down the corridor. "Here we are" he said, gesturing to the door with the number 1505. He rang the doorbell and they waited for an answer.

"Coming!" they heard a feminine voice call from inside. They heard the door unlock and came to face with a rather pretty, thin, _very _attractive girl about Hiccup's age. She was dressed in a long sleeve white shirt, where he could make out a black bra underneath it; and some bed shorts. She had raven black hair that reached just above the small of her back, and she had amazing green eyes. Her facial structure was thin, with her eyes matching perfectly with her face; her lips were thin and small, but were extremely noticeable. Her nose was thin and her green eyes were remarkably striking.

"Ripper!" she said as she brought him into a tight hug, with which he returned with eagerness.

"Hey Heather! How are you?" he asked as he rubbed her back. Meanwhile, Hiccup was casting him amused looks to him, and in response, he mouthed a 'I'll explain later'.

"I'm doing good" she said, pulling back.

"I don't think you've met friend here" he said, gesturing to Hiccup.

"No, I haven't" she said, turning her attention to him. "Heather Lockheart" she said, extending her arm.

"Henry Hannibal Haddock" Hiccup replied, shaking her hand with a smile.

"Stoick the Vast's son, right?" she asked, as they let go.

"Yeah ... his 'disappointment' of a son" Hiccup used air quotes.

"Well, as of now, I don't think that" she said. "Come in" she said, opening her door and moving to the side. The two men walked in, Ripper removing his shoes by the door and leaving them on a mat where Hiccup saw the rest of Heather's shoes were. Since Ripper he did it, he decided to do the same, since he didn't want to offend the person in any way.

"So, what brings you here?" she asked as she led them to her sitting area. It was a relatively large apartment. There were three bedrooms, but she had converted one of them into a dining room. The apartment had a totally modern feel to it, with the granite counters of the kitchen, the hardwood cupboards, the white leather seats of the sitting area; it was clear she was doing well.

"I'm sorry to inform you that it's work related" said Ripper as they sat down on one of the two leather sofas in the lounge area.

"Oh, this can't be good" Heather, casting him a knowing grin as she took a few things from the fridge.

"Well ... we've sort of hit our big score" he said, and this caught her attention. "I took him out to Dave's Car Cemetery to teach him how to shoot, you know the place right?" he asked and she nodded. But Hiccup noticed that her cheeks turned a brighter shade of pink, just a tad but it was noticeable, and when he looked to Ripper, he was also grinning rather idiotically. "Well, while he was trying to shoot some targets I set up for him, he missed and it hit an old Buick right behind the table and we saw a cloud of powder exit from the many holes and cracks in the trunk. When we opened the lid, we saw thirteen bricks of drugs, and most likely the good kind" Ripper explained.

"Did you test them?"

"No, but when I tasted the powder of the brick he shot, it was heroin ... and the _good _kind of heroin. We were wondering you knew there were any clients in the market looking to buy heroin, maybe some ecstasy ... throw in some cocaine as well" he said.

"Almost everyone at the club would want what you're offering and are willing to pay top dollar for it" she nodded.

"Wait, these aren't your average buyers, right?" asked Hiccup.

"Oh Gods no! These are some of the richest businessmen, lawyers and even actors who pay for the stuff" said Heather with an arm gesture towards the window. "But, since you found them in the trunk of a car, how do you know they're good or not?"

"Well, we're going to go back to our place and check ... and if they are we'll ring you up and confirm with you."

"That's perfect. I'm assuming I don't get a small cut for hooking you guys up?" she asked, shooting, Ripper specifically, a sad face with large eyes and curving her lips into a pout.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to give you something in return" he said with a wink to which she laughed in reply. "Anyway, that means we gotta back and check this stuff out fast. Come on, Hiccup" said Ripper, getting up and walking to the door and putting his shoes on.

"It was nice meeting you" Hiccup said, getting up and shaking Heather's hand quickly.

"It was nice to meet you too, Hi-Henry. I meant Henry" she corrected herself.

"Hiccup's fine. I've grown used to the name" he said, as he and Ripper walked out, waving goodbye to her.

When they were back down at their car, Hiccup shot Ripper an extremely amused grin and raised eyebrows.

"Don't" Ripper said, before getting into the car and starting the engines.

"What?" Hiccup asked, barely able to contain his laughter as he opened the door and slid into his seat. "Don't ask about you and Heather? Because it seems to me that there it _a lot_ going on between the two of you" he said, buckling himself in.

"Maybe I'll share my personal life with you some other time" Ripper said as they pulled out of the apartment's car park, and sped up to begin their trip home.

_000_

"What do you mean they didn't have the merchandise?" Stoick's voice echoed through his house. He was pacing about in the massive living room while the young adults sat on the white Metropolitan sofa sets that surrounded a low, huge and elegant table with a fireplace built into a granite on the far side of the room and a seventy five inch LED Samsung TV fixed right above it. The TV had a wireless feature so it didn't require the use of cable running in and out behind it with the worry of a fire right beneath it.

"Alejandro's representative said that they had trouble getting the package together so they settled to give us the money instead. We couldn't have said no since his men would have gunned us down in a second" Astrid explained. She had to make the best of that situation.

"But what can we do with that money when most of our suppliers in LA are having their own trouble creating and getting _decent_ products?" Spitelout asked.

"See. You shouldn't have let her lead this deal" Snotlout sulked from his seat on the sofa with a beer in hand.

"You're right. It's totally my fault" Astrid replied sarcastically. "If I didn't save your arse after you said, 'Throw in your sister for me and then we have a deal', we'd all be sitting at the bottom of the docks!" she shot back.

"I was joking!" he emphasized with his arms. "How was I supposed to know he'd take it seriously?"

"Enough!" Stoick yelled, quieting the redundant argument. "It's at least good to know that we've got a new and better supplier thanks to Astrid here" Astrid shot Snotlout a smirk who scowled at her and took a another swing of his beer, "but we still need our products. Luckily I always prepare a stash of them just in case times get tough, and since that time has arrived a lot sooner than I anticipated, it's time to get them. Snotlout!" he called, looking to his nephew.

"You did hide the stash in a good location, right?" he asked.

"Of course, Chief. I made regular checks each day in the night to make sure they're still there and they always are" he said, smiling proudly and propping his feet onto the large table in front of him.

"I need you to take Astrid, Eret and Ruffnut to your location and get the bricks. There's over a million dollars worth of drugs there, and that should be more than enough to last us until the Diablo's can get us a new shipment" Stoick finished.

"Got it Uncle, come on guys. Time to fetch our payday" he said, getting up and ecstatic to show the others that Stoick had this much trust in him and he wanted to prove it.

"Are you sure it's still there?" asked Astrid as she followed in step beside him, leaving Ruff to handle Eret.

"Positive! I went there last night to check it myself and they were all snuggled up in the trunk where I left them" he said. Astrid stopped in her tracks for a brief second before rushing to catch up with him.

"Trunk of a car?" she asked, not believing him. "What if someone found it!?" She was not in the mood to see another mad Stoick. The last time she saw that side of him was when he kicked his own son out of the gang. She found it remarkable as to why Ripper left with him as well. He had a bright future in the gang. He would have been most likely to take over once Stoick retired, but chose to leave with Henry instead. They hadn't heard of the two of them since that day four years ago.

"I left it in the trunk of an old Buick in Dave's Car Cemetery. No one ever goes there anymore, believe me" Snotlout assured her as he got into the driver's seat of the Navigator. She shook her head. This was in no way professional. Just leaving drugs worth over one million dollars in an unguarded trunk was beyond idiotic. But it was Snotlout, so it shouldn't have surprised her there. She did remember him going out somewhere for over an hour yesterday so he must have gone to check up on it to make sure it was still there, and if he was that confident it was there, then it must be. But, a lot can happen in one day.

She hopped into the front passenger seat, unwilling to sit next to Eret in the back of a car ... again, many awkward memories, and the four of them set off.

_000_

As soon as they pulled into their spot in front of their apartment block, they opened the trunk, took the bags of the drugs and guns and rushed up the stairs to their apartment. They bet that people thought a raid was occurring at that moment. Hiccup quickly got out his keys and, with amazingly still hands, he unlocked the door and rushed in. Ripper dropped the bag full of guns on the floor and Hiccup cleared away from stuff on their one table which was in the kitchen and placed the bag of drugs on the chair and unzipped. Ripper brought the machine that they would use to test the drugs for their quality.

"Okay, get a notepad and pen as well so we can mark the packages" said Hiccup, already taking a small amount of the first package and placing it the machine. Ripper unpacked the rest of the twelve packages, shoved the bag off the chair and placed them on the chair, waiting to be tested. They had to wait for about three minutes before the machine gave them a result.

"Mother of Thor" Hiccup mumbled as he stared at the screen.

"What? What is it?" Ripper asked, holding the top of the chair on the opposite side of the table, nearly crushing it. Hiccup didn't answer him, instead he turned the screen around and showed him. When he saw the screen though, his arms went numb and were only in the air due to him holding the chair.

The screen read 70% pure heroin.

"That's a 160k right here" Hiccup said, holding up the package. He ripped a piece of paper off the notepad and wrote down the details and placed it on the package.

"One down ... twelve to go" Ripper smiled. This was the big break they had been waiting four years for.

The rest of the packages took a total of half an hour to analyze and marl. All in all, they had six packets of roughly seventy percent heroin which meant over 960k in those bricks alone. There were three bricks of cocaine. As cocaine was going at 40k a brick, they had 120k with those three. And the last three bricks consisted of ecstasy. Ecstasy was only going at 10k a brick, but that was still 30k right there. The sum total brought their new stock to 1.10 million US dollars.

"You gonna give your girlfriend a call?" asked Hiccup.

"You bet I... she's not my girlfriend" Ripper deadpanned, grabbing his phone and pressing a number before putting it to his ear.

"You already have her on speed dial. If that's not girlfriend, I don't know what it is" Hiccup replied, packing the drugs back into their bag.

"I can tell you're enjoying this."

"Very much"

"Heather ... hey. Yeah we got the results ... you're not gonna believe it though ... We have over $1.10 million in heroin, ecstasy and cocaine ... Yeah, I know! You already got a name? ... Uh, great, that's great! ... Yes I'm excited ... Okay, what's his address? Really? Uh what does he... Oh ... Okay. That's exotic ... Yeah, well that's a nice word for it. Okay, thanks beautiful. We'll celebrate soon ... Okay, bye" Ripper finished talking with her, and hung up.

"'We' as in the sense you and Heather, or all of us?" asked Hiccup.

"Can we just let that go?" Ripper asked with an annoyed smile. "Just wait until you get a girlfriend and payback will be sweet."

"_If _I get a girlfriend, and since that might not happen for a while, I'm gonna milk this as much as I can" he said. "So do we take the whole bag to this person or just a few?"

"Just a few. Since this person's pretty big and powerful he'll be sure to have some muscle and firepower behind him, and I don't want to risk losing everything. Just take one heroin brick, one cocaine brick and two ecstasy."

"Got it" Hiccup said, already moving to get his back and place the bricks in them.

"Come on. As of now, time is money" Ripper said as he closed the door behind Hiccup. They were heading to an abandoned building on Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't really abandoned; the owner wanted it to look that way for an underground sport he was conducting. And that was where they would meet him.

"Wait!" Ripper called out suddenly, making Hiccup stop in his tracks. "We gotta get some new outfits ... so that people won't recognize you and me" he said, gesturing to the both of them.

"What do you have in mind?"

Ripper smiled. He had the perfect getup for them.

_000_

"We're here" Snotlout yelled as he pulled into the junkyard.

"We can see that" Eret said, as they got out.

"Just show us where you hid the stuff already" Ruffnut grumbled. Playing delivery girl wasn't her kind of thing. Although she loved being in the backseat with Eret, trying to talk to him, but he just gave her short replies as he had his attention on Astrid throughout the whole ride to the place, which is why as Snotlout and Ruff went up ahead, he pulled Astrid back by her arm.

"Okay, what's going on?"

"What do you mean? Everything's perfectly fine" she said, pulling her arm back and brushing a few bangs out of her eyes.

"Then why are you pretending like I don't exist? After all we've been through?"

"Look ... I'm going to lie, the time we were dating was nice" he raised an eyebrow with a slight smirk. "Okay ... _really _nice, but you were pressing me to have sex with you. I mean, sliding up next to me and pinching my butt unnecessarily? Or even making feel all flushed when I'm in the middle of conversations with my friends?"

"It's because we _have _something between us. We work so well on deals and missions, especially getting out of tough spots. You know how I work and vice versa. Why are you trying so hard to pretend like all that's happened between us never happened?" he asked. She saw the hurt in his eyes. Maybe she was wrong about him for thinking he just wanted to get her in bed or any private room. And she has to admit, she herself hasn't quite gotten over him as well. "Can you give _us _another chance? Please?" he asked, taking her hands in his. She looked him again in the eyes, seeing one of the many reasons as to why she fell for him in the first place ... but that's just it. She doesn't remember why she did fall for him. Maybe they had been celebrating a huge deal or a one in a million payday and she met him then; after she had had about five glasses of wine and maybe a beer - and she got lost in his eyes and thought he would make a wonderful partner; in work and personal life. He did as well. He treated her respectfully most of the time, they both teased each other and laughed and kissed. She even loved the way his hands ran over her body. He was just ... perfect - strong, exceptional, striking, smart, handsome and just an all out amazing personality.

She was brought back to reality when Ruff called them over. She quickly backed away from Eret, noticing how small the space had grown between them. "We'll talk about this later" she said, releasing a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She turned and headed to where Ruff and Snotlout were, but both of them were standing still - with Snotlout's posture in a shocked state, even though she hadn't seen his face yet.

"What's wrong?" she asked, coming to stand beside Snotlout who was looking into the trunk of a car. She didn't need him to say a word since the powder traces in the trunk told the whole story.

"Snotlout ... where are the bricks?" she asked, turning to look at him. He didn't respond.

"Snotlout!" she yelled, turning him forcefully to face her. "Where. Are. The. Drugs?" she asked slowly this time.

"I...I-I don't know. T-they were here yesterday!" he yelled the last part, pulling away from the trunk and running his hands over his face. "Oh Gods ... Oh Thor. They were _right there _last night. I came here and checked and .." he began to panic. The others looked at each other worriedly. This was not good. Not only was their secret stash gone, Snotlout may never see the light of day again.

"Are you sure?" Eret asked, running up to and trying to calm him down.

"Yes I'm fucking sure! How could it have gone missing!?" he yelled.

"Maybe because someone stole them" Astrid said, her gaze on the ground and not the others.

"What do you mean?" asked Ruff.

"Look" she said, gesturing to the ground hear the car. The three of them looked down and saw a distinct set of car tracks. "What car did you come in last night?"

"My Jaguar XKR. Why?"

"Because if I know my cars. Those aren't tracks from your car. It's from another car. Someone must have come here this morning and found it" Astrid said, standing back up after trying to memorize specific details of the tracks.

"So what are we gonna do now? I mean, we don't know what car it is" Ruffnut said.

"No. But there's a petrol station about two and a half miles down from here, towards the city. I vaguely remember what kind of car makes tracks like these but I'll have Fishlegs hack into the camera there and see if they caught our car" she said, walking back to the Navigator, followed by the others.

"So what do we do now?" asked Eret as they got in.

"We tell the Chief what happened. Or I should say, Snotlout will tell the Chief what happened" she said, turning to face said man as he got in the passenger seat, leaving Astrid to drive. He gulped in anticipation at the hurricane he would face from the Chief and his own father.

_000 (Night Time)_

"I look stupid in this" Hiccup said as they got out of their car at the destination. He didn't necessarily look stupid. He was wearing a full suit, with dress shoes, dress pants, a white shirt, a green tie, black gloves, a ski mask that covered his whole face except his eyes and a mafia styled hat. "Like really, when are living in? The 1960's?"

"Stop complaining. We look awesome!" Ripper said as he closed his door. He was dressed in the same attire as well. "By the way, why did you put your mask on ever since we left that shop?" he asked. Hiccup stopped looking over himself and looked at Ripper, and he could tell, even through the ski mask, that his friend was an complete idiot. "You know, for the brains and tech skills you have, you can be completely stupid sometimes" he said, putting on his ski mask and hat. "Also, out on that mike."

"No!"

"Why 'no!'? So that people won't recognize your voice or have an idea of who you are" he reasoned.

"Are you sure all this is completely necessary?" asked Hiccup as he pulled out a small mike he had in his pocket, lifted up his mask and placed it near his mouth. The device would alter his voice into those deep, bass voices that kidnappers employ when they're demanding a ransom.

"You want this deal to blow in our faces like all the others?"

"No" he sighed.

"Then deal with it. Now come on, and don't forget your slip" he said, pulling out his from the chest pocket on the inside of his suit. The man they'd be meeting was a James Maverick. He was a big shot businessman who made millions each year, traveled the country and the world and ran an underground betting sport in LA. His home was in Santa Monica, near the APPLE nightclub. He had come in earlier to give Heather the exclusive passes and for her to give them to Ripper and Hiccup, since they would be immediately kicked out if they didn't have them. "Does it work?" he asked. They were just at the stairwell that led to the basement of the building.

"Checking. One, two three" Hiccup spoke in his 'new' voice.

"Wonderful. Now, let's get this show on the road shall we?" he said, as they began their descent into the basement. There were a few bulbs that led the way to the supposed arena. But after descending about two flights of stairs, they began to hear the loud beats of the music blasting through the speakers and men and women yelling sounding like they were having a good time. When they rounded the final corner, they saw a doorway at the end, with two tall and muscled men on either side. "Just show them the pass" Ripper muttered to him just a few metres from them. They reached into their chest pockets and showed the men their passes.

"Go right ahead" one of them said. The two of them nodded their thanks and walked and were surprised by what they saw. It was almost like a nightclub ... almost. On the board just behind the bar there was a tally of wins, losses and points. What caught their interest in the board were the fighters. They were all wolves. They didn't even have any names. They were all numbered with roman numerals. They all looked to be vicious in their posters ... yes they had posters of those wolves ... but Ripper and Hiccup couldn't believe something like this was going on. They've heard of Pitbull fights, cock fights, and even underground boxing fights, but never wolf fights.

"Gentlemen" someone called them. "You looking for James Maverick?" the man asked. He was wearing an all black suit and tie; obviously a bodyguard.

"Yes we are" Hiccup answered. He was really starting to like his 'new' voice.

"Right this way" the man gestured them to follow him. They made their way through the partying crowd who all had glasses of champagne, beer, scotch drinks or colourful cocktails in their hands as they danced to the music. The man opened a door that was again guarded by two big burly men on either side and followed him in. This corridor took them past the cages the wolves were kept in. Some were lying down sleeping, as if making the best of the situation. Others had shot their heads up and were curious at the new people walking past them. The cages weren't that small either. A man of seven feet could walk into the cage through the door without having to lower his head to get in.

Both Ripper and Hiccup had a soft side for animals. They never liked seeing them being treated so cruelly - and they were being forced to fight for sport. However, they pushed the thoughts to the back of their minds as their guide led them through another set of doors, into a more decorated room. They saw another cage at the far end of the room with a middle aged man standing in front of it - his position obstructed their view of the wolf.

"Sir, the men are here" his personal guard announced, coming to stand in behind him.

"Gentlemen, please have a seat" he said, turning around. He had black hair; certain parts on the grey side, a square jaw and it clearly looked like he was in top shape. "Are we going to the opera or a play?" he asked, smiling as he went to a table where there was an assortment of drinks.

"We had deals go weary in the past and my boss here is ... paranoid, about people finding out who he really is. Plus, I find this style original and rare" Ripper added in - straightening his tie and suit to emphasize the point. James then looked to Hiccup.

"And you?"

"Are we here to do business or what?" Hiccup asked, in his altered voice.

"Straight to the point, I like that. Okay then, can I please see the package?" he asked, extending his hand. Hiccup reached unlocked the brief case he had with him and pulled out the brick - one kilo of heroin.

"Seventy percent pure heroin. Much, _much _higher quality than you can get anywhere else these days. Making it rare and, therefore, expensive" Ripper said. He stood by the seat where Hiccup was sitting. It would be easier for him to reach for his gun that was tucked in the back of his pants if things got dicey. However, they the guards didn't check for any hidden weapons.

"You don't mind if I test it myself, do you?" James asked.

"Go right ahead" Hiccup gestured. Mr. Maverick called a man in the corner who came over and set up his own machine. He took out his pocket knife, made a small incision in the package and took a small amount of the drug.

"So the test will take approximately four minutes" James started. "Why not tell me about yourselves" he asked, sitting down on his chair and looking at Hiccup and Ripper. "Like how you got into this business? Or, do you have a reliable supplier? And what do you do when someone stabs you in the back?"

"We were part of a gang ... but then I was kicked out. My associate here followed me out of loyalty. He's kept me safe and has always looked out for me. Something you rarely see these days" said Hiccup.

"Is there anyone who holds a special place in your heart ... and this question is just out of curiosity."

"There _was _a person ... but she left me out to dry some time ago" Hiccup said quickly. "And I'm not saying anymore."

"It's done" the man with the machine said. "They're right. It reads seventy percent, Mr. Maverick."

"Well gentlemen, I am glad to say I've found a new supplier" he said, getting up and going over to his work desk in the far corner. "How much would the brick of heroin be?" he asked, getting out his brief case.

"Two hundred thousand" Hiccup spoke, before Ripper could even open his mouth. Ripper was thankful he was wearing a mask, since Mr. Maverick would have seen his shock at the answer and would have known that wasn't the original price they agreed to sell.

"Two hundred thousand? The market price for heroin these days is 175k at the max" said James.

"But then again, you don't get a package of seventy percent heroin everyday now" Hiccup shot back.

"You're right. I don't" he said, smiling as he counted the bundles of money. "But just out of my own cautiousness ... where did you people like yourselves get hands on heroin of this quality?" he asked, still looking through the notes.

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I want to make sure the law or my other suppliers don't come after me for switching them with you ... I mean, the Hooligans are an established gang in California and Stoick the Vast doesn't take well to people who disobey him" James said.

"You're a businessman ... you needed a new supply of heroin and fast. You did what any sensible businessman would do ... and that is look for a new supplier. But I've dealt with Stoick personally. He wouldn't hold that against you. Believe me."

"And how would you know what Stoick does and doesn't do to people who change from him?"

"Because I got into his angry side. Is that enough reason?" Hiccup asked.

"Fair enough" he said, closing his brief case and bringing it over to the table in front of Hiccup. "Two hundred thousand in this case. Counted it myself, all yours" he said, placing it in front of Hiccup.

"You run a wolf fighting club here?" Ripper asked, his eyes on the cage in the room, looking at a black wolf that had deep green eyes.

"I do indeed. I admire the creatures, I really do. Strong, resilient, adaptable, social creatures ... and extremely dangerous. They're all lone wolves, you see. The ones you saw while walking to my private room, but this one ... all black fur and those sinister green eyes, he's my pride and joy. He's never lost a fight. Knows how to win without injuring and maiming the other wolves" James explained.

Ripper turned to talk to James about future dealings, but the conversation was blocked out to Hiccup. He was staring into the eyes of the wolf, who was staring back at him as well. He didn't know why or how, but he felt this ... connection with it. He was even afraid to tear his eyes away from him. But he could see something else. He could see the pain in this wolf's eyes - the pain of being locked up in a cage, instead of roaming the wild lands of the US and Canada. He could only imagine the life this wolf ... even the other wolves ... must have led when they were free. Being subjected you didn't want to do, being forced to fight your own kind ... your own friends. It made Hiccup think why he was doing what he was.

Was it to just prove to his father, Spitelout, Snotlout, Astrid ... everyone ... that he could be what his father was? Was it because he was mad, no ... furious, at how his father treated him that he wanted to fight back? In some way, Hiccup knew he was in the same boat as the black wolf in front of him ... one is looking to break free from the world's perspective of him, the other was trying to break free of what the world was forcing him to do.

"So, I'll call you for the next pack at the end of the week, alright?" James asked, bringing Hiccup back from his thoughts.

"Sounds like a plan, we'll be looking forward to it" Ripper said, shaking the man's hand.

"Thank you for your time" Hiccup said, getting up and shaking his hand as well. And without a further notice, both he and Ripper were on their way to the door.

"Oh yes, gentlemen, one more question" he called, stopping them in their tracks. "Every dealer, or group, have their own names. What can I call you two by?"

"Well, I have a habit of sneaking up on people who've doubled crossed us and I whisper a few final words in their ear before shooting them ... so you can call me Whispering Death" Ripper said. James could tell by the sound of his voice that he was smiling.

"And you?" he asked Hiccup. The young man made eye contact with the black wolf again, who hadn't taken his eyes off of him. He knew exactly what his name would be.

"Night Fury"

* * *

**Author's Note - well guys, I'm heading to the States tomorrow and Uni classes start on the 25th of August and I don't know how much time I'll have to updating these stories. It'll be orientation from the 20th - 24th so I'll be meeting some new and great people. But I'll try so so so hard to make time for these stories since all of you love them so much.**

**I also want to thank you guys for making _The Past Defines the Future _the story it is since all of you have given me such nice and awesome reviews and awesome feedback as well. I'll try and update it when I can ... you guys have my word. I'll make sure to add little onto the new chapter everyday to get it on faster. So please stick around for _The Past Defines The Future _and _West Coast Skyline _because these stories are not even done yet. **

**(And don't forget about the sequel to TPDTF)**

**NFS Lover signing out ... but not forever!**


	4. A Leader Needs A Gang

**7A/N: Sorry for the really late update. But here's where the real planning begins to go down for Hiccup and Ripper. They're about to move up in the ranks of the crime wars of L.A.**

_000_

"So why aren't you celebrating with Henry?" asked Heather. She and Ripper were back in her apartment, sitting on bar chairs that were right next to her marble counter in the kitchen. Well, he was sitting and sipping from his glass of Pinot Noir wine from 2002. Heather had her own glass of Chardonnay in hand while she was cooking their dinner for tonight.

"He said he needed some time to think what we're going to do next and ways of building up his image ... plus it's more fun with you anyway" he said with a wink. She replied with a playful eye roll making sure he saw it.

"But I'm sure he discussed it with you? I mean you are technically his second in command."

"I'm his _only _second in command. We gotta work on building up a gang. Now, I know Hiccup and I can easily take on the Hooligans, Meatheads, Bog Burglars, Outcasts and Berserkers _combined _... but since he wasn't up to it, I told him to start scouting around for potential members" he said, getting off the counter chair and walking over to the fridge.

"Did you guys have any people in mind?" asked Heather as she took out the roast chicken from the oven.

"A few. People who we've dealt with in the past and _didn't _double cross us" Ripper replied, taking the bottle of wine and refilling his glass. "They're mostly small time dealers who are also looking for a way into the big leagues. And with the 200k we've just received, they'll be idiots if they don't join us."

"Aren't you worried that they might try and kill Henry and take the money?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." she said as she placed the roast chicken dish on the counter "...if he's going to hire them by showing them the 200k for proof, and since he's by himself, won't they try and kill him?"

"No they won't. Besides, if they do ... I'll kill 'em" Ripper said with a knowing smile. "If they value their lives, they'll know that if they kill Hiccup, they'll have to deal with me" he said, maintaining eye contact with her. "It would be the same case if people knew you were dating me."

"And you know very well that I don't want to mix my current job with your line of work. Besides, wouldn't that make me leverage for whatever hair-brain scheme you and Henry come up with?" she asked as she set out the plates.

"And that is why you are technically the brains of our little group" he said, raising his glass. Heather smiled in reply, and went back to the counter to retrieve her own glass.

"To a new beginning" she toasted.

"To a new life" Ripper said in response as they dinged their glasses. "Now come on, even though what you made looks delicious, I really want to get to desert" he said, pulling back her chair for her to sit down.

"But I already made some and it's in the fridge" she said, sitting down.

"The desert I'm thinking of happens in the bedroom ... or anywhere private for that matter" he said with a wink, and she knew all too well at what he was referring to ... and she honestly couldn't wait. If he and Henry kept having more successful deals such as today, there would be a good chance she might end up pregnant.

Luckily she was already taking birth control pills for that already.

_000_

"As you can see Mr. Haddock, we have a wide range of cars" the man said as he guided Hiccup through the show-room of luxury sport cars. "But in the end, it all depends on the man who's buying the car. We have a few Porsche's in the back for the 911 enthusiast. We have a few Ferrari's as well, if you're part of the playboy group ... oh and a few Lamborghini's if you're interested in something wild and untamed?" the man suggested. But Hiccup wasn't paying attention as he already had his eyes set out on a galaxy blue Aston Martin DB9 ... the 2012 model to be exact.

"How about the Aston over there?" he asked.

"That is the last Aston we have in stock, sir. And ain't she a beauty" he said as he led Hiccup over to where the car was in the marble tiled room. "Most people have forgotten the class an Aston Martin brings to a party. Most want to arrive these days in Lambo's that blaze fire through their exhausts, or people who want to screech their tires as they're leaving a club or party or even restaurant for that matter" he lectured.

"Fortunately I'm not like most people" and for once Hiccup felt good saying that. "Mind telling me the specs?"

"This specific model has the all new AM11 6-litre engine; developing 510 horsepower and a 0-60 time of 4.6 seconds. Yes I know, it's not that impressive among the Pagani's and Lambo's and Ferrari's ... but that's not the point of this kind of Aston."

"Otherwise I would have gone for the cars you just mentioned. But I'm not here for them. I'm here for the Aston. So, how much will that be?" he asked.

"One hundred and seventy five thousand ... that's without tax of course" the man said, leading Hiccup to his desk.

"How about I give you one hundred thousand up front and the rest, including tax, the next month?" Hiccup suggested, placing the brief case he had with him on the table.

"I see you've come prepared. And does your father know about this purchase?"

"You know very well what my father knows of me" Hiccup shot back.

"Indeed. I should inform him about this, but ... I haven't had enough business here in a while that you're my first customer in two months" the salesman pondered.

"And besides, my second in command will be planning to get his car from here as well. Don't ask me how I know. I just know" said Hiccup.

"Well, alright then. I'll take the one hundred thousand up front here." That was Hiccup's cue to open up the brief case, in his general view, and placed the packs of fifty notes onto the table.

"One hundred thousand in twenties. Take my word for it" he said. The salesman took one pack of them and weighed it in his hand, making sure the total number of packs added up to one hundred thousand.

"It seems you've just bought yourself a new car" he said, smiling as he put away the money and took out a few documents. "I'll just need your signature to finalize the purchase" he said, handing Hiccup a pen. He took it from his hands and proceeded to read the contract. He was taught to always read the fine print, to make sure there aren't any hidden catches somewhere the dealer could rip you off. Luckily this dealer wasn't like the others. He was an acquaintance of his dad's, but he could keep a secret. He knew he wouldn't tell Stoick about his purchase, or even ask him where he got the money from. Subjects as that were better left closed.

After reading the contract, he signed his name at the bottom of the piece of paper. "Thank you Mr. Haddock" he said, taking the paper and filing it under in Hiccup's new folder. He unlocked a drawer at his desk and pulled out the keys to the car.

"Before I forget ... I'll pay you the rest of the money as soon as I get the funds. The timeline for next month is just an estimate, but I should be able to pay you before then" said Hiccup as they reached the car.

"That's perfectly fine, Mr. Haddock. I hope you enjoy your new pride and joy ... by the way, whatever happened to that Mustang I sold your father? Still keeping it?" he asked.

"Of course I am. Never going to get rid of a classic like that" Hiccup said, patting Michael on his shoulder. Michael Callaway was the salesman's name, and the owner of the show-room he's in. Hiccup had known him for a good five years; so he was extremely confident that he wouldn't tell his father about his little purchase.

"Good lad. Now, drive carefully, you here me?" he said as Hiccup opened the door.

"You know me. I would never try and damage this car" he replied, before getting in and allowing that glorious engine come to my life as he turned the key in the ignition. "Sounds just like I dreamed it would" he said as he felt around the steering wheel; getting familiar with that classic leather that smelled of history, elegance and pride of a proud car firm. "By the way, could you do me a favour? By which I mean I will pay for the result" he said.

"Of course Mr. Haddock. What is your request?"

"Hiccup then took a notepad from his inside suit pocket and a pen and quickly scribbled down his idea. "Could you get that on a number plate for me? I'd like to have it plated on when I come back to pay for the rest of the car."

"Will do. I'll give my buddy a few calls and he'll get it registered" said Michael, tucking the note into his pocket. He then walked over to the door where the cars are delivered and with a press of a button, the metal door opened as Hiccup slowly drove his car out.

"Pleasure doing business with you" Michael said as he drove out. Hiccup sounded his horn reply as he made a left turn and was now heading to his main destination. He was heading to downtown L.A. He was sure his part time supplier of guns would want in on the future he was planning. And what better way to show up in a new car? With the money from just one deal? He also had ties to the drug world and could supply decent qualities of ecstasy, heroin, crystal meth ... the lot. But at the same time, he figured that he and Ripper would need a new house. Something that stands out and screams "I'm successful" but not enough to draw too much attention; especially from the other crime gangs.

He most undoubtedly didn't want his father or anyone else in his old gang finding out that he was the new boss on the block.

He pulled outside a bar that had five big guys waiting outside, talking. They had tattoos on their arms, Hiccup could make the outline of a pistol under their shirt, tucked into the hem of their pants, and that they had stopped once they saw him pull in front of the bar. Luckily he had his mask and voice manipulator on, since he couldn't trust any of them yet.

"I'm here to see Dwight" he said, getting out of the car, briefcase in hand.

"Do you have an appointment?" one of them asked.

"No. I need to see him" Hiccup replied, walking to the door, but was stopped when a six foot six, young white man stepped in front of him.

"He's not seeing anyone today. Not unless you have an appointment" he reiterated.

"This is a business proposition that I want to discuss with _him _only" Hiccup stood strong.

"Well then, I guess we have a problem" the man said as he gestured to the others to move in and surround him. "We only take orders from Dwight; not from some washed mob criminal from the 50's" he laughed, as did the others.

"Well considering your mom would have thrown herself at me to fuck her back then, thank you so much for the compliment" Hiccup retorted. The man stopped laughing as a quick flash of anger overtook his eyes.

"You little son of a bitch!" he said as he prepared to punch him.

"Only one man can piss off people so easily with sarcasm!" they all heard a voice rang as the door to the bar opened. "Take it easy, boys. I know the dude. He's cool. Now move aside and let him in" Dwight said, as he left the door open for Hiccup to walk in. Hiccup flashed the men a smug smile from underneath his mask as he walked past them, followed by Dwight.

"You know, one of these days ... that big mouth of yours is gonna get yourself killed" he said, sitting down at his own personal corner. "Anything to drink man?" he asked as he stopped a passing bartender.

"Not today Dwight" Hiccup said as he placed his briefcase on the table.

"Are you asking me to sell whatever's in that case?" asked Dwight.

"Not exactly" Hiccup replied as he opened the case discreetly, making sure it was for Dwight's eyes only. He saw his friend's eyebrows move up and inch and he quickly closed the case. "I need your help" he stated.

"Well ... if you're looking to get rid of that money, I'm the right guy for the job."

"I'm hoping you'll come work for me. Ripper and I have just hit a huge score ... over 70% pure heroin. We already sold one brick for two hundred thousand. And there's more coming. I want you and your crew in on our plans" Hiccup explained.

"You want me ... Dwight 'King' Larson, to work for you?" he asked, looking skeptical.

"Is it the fact that I'm Hiccup? The disgraced son of Stoick the Vast and the Hooligans?"

"Nah man ... well maybe a little, but it's just me and my crew have been doing well. What makes you think we'll work for you?" he asked, sitting back and folding his arms across his chest.

"Look Dwight ... the only reason I came to you is because you are the only one we've dealt with in the past who hasn't tried to kill us. And we can't do this alone. But because Ripper and I made the deal go through, with many others to come, we need a crew; men who'll stick by us through thick and thin; men who we can count on ... men like you" Hiccup spoke, and he meant every word of it.

"Hiccup, dude ... I like. I really do. But what kind of image would me working for you give me? People will think that I'm desperate!"

"That's why I've come with a name ... plus how can you not notice what I'm wearing?" he gestured to himself.

"I thought you came back from a play or something" Dwight joked.

"I go by the name of Night Fury now. And that's what I plan to stick by. No one except you, Ripper and your men will know if you decide to join us" he tried to reason, but still saw the doubt in Dwight's eyes. "I know I'm asking a lot from you right now ... but when I came to you ... you saw how weak and desperate I was; determined to make a name for myself; to get into the business. I'm finally in it. And I'm asking you to come work with us. You can go under the assumption that you're working for Night Fury. But in truth, we'll be helping with each other. You guys will definitely get cuts from our deals, and we can also help you in the gun trade as well. It's a win win for us both, Dwight. So what do you say?" Hiccup asked. He was incredibly anxious because if he refused to help him, there would go his only chance of creating a real gang.

"Will you let me drive that beauty of yours outside if I say yes?" he asked.

"By the time our third deal arrives, you'll be able to buy one" Hiccup answered. He could see Dwight was simply holding back his answer on purpose. Either way, it was still nerve wrecking.

"What will be our cut of the deal?"

"Your gang will get 30% of the cut, and from there you can split it as you feel like. But this means that we also get access to your suppliers of drugs and guns and with the names Ripper and I'll be establishing, your rivals will make sure to stay clear of you and the Night Fury" Hiccup enticed. That was another one of his gifts from other than being smart. He knew how to get people to see eye to eye with him. "So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" he asked, extending his arm.

"First accept a drink and then I'll accept" Dwight replied, getting one of the bartenders to come over.

"There'a always a catch with you, isn't there?" Hiccup asked.

"There's always a catch with everyone in this business, Hiccup" he replied with a smug as Hiccup placed down his order.

_000_

"Any luck Fishlegs?" Astrid asked as she looked over her friend's shoulder as he worked on the laptop.

"The image is a bit blurry ... but nothing that I can't handle" he said, his fingers typing furiously at the keyboard.

"That's what I like to hear" she replied with a smile and grateful pat on the shoulder and left him to continue with enhancing the image. She had Fishlegs hack into the camera of a petrol station that overlooked the road leading to the junkyard. Her best guess was that the people who took it had to have come on that road and gone back the same way. All Fishlegs had to do was see if the same car passed the camera in a short time span.

"Any news on Snotlout" Tuff asked as he laid on the couch with a beer in his hands.

"I think I heard Stoick's voice on the other side of the house?" Eret said.

"Either way, he's screwed. Don't know if the Chief will even let him work with us" said Astrid.

"Knowing Snotlout, he might beg to try and redeem himself ... and that's by killing the person or group who stole the drugs" Ruff said, examining her nails.

"So what are we going to do with the people who stole from us?" asked Fish, eyes not leaving the computer screen.

"Ooh, maybe we can tie their hands with some chain and hang them from the ceiling ... or maybe we can threaten them with a chainsaw!" Tuff suggested.

"How about cut off their fingers one by one and shoot them in the knees with a shotgun?" Ruff suggested, equally ecstatic.

"Guys! We'll be handing him or them over to the Chief. If they're still alive after that then you can decide" Astrid broke up their idea train.

"I think I found something!" Fishlegs called from the table, and Astrid was the first person at his side.

"What did you find?" she asked as the others joined them.

"You see this Ford Mustang?" Fishlegs pointed to the screen. Astrid squinted her eyes to focus on the image and saw that it was a 1967 Shelby GT500 in a blaze red paint job with the signature stripes going down the middle.

"Yeah?"

"This exact same car passes the petrol station going back to L.A about one to two hours later. And of all the cars that have passed at the same time as that car, none of them returned. So by power of deduction, those are the thieves" Fishlegs explained.

"Thieves?" Eret asked.

"I can make out two people in the car but because of the quality of the camera, I can't zoom in enough and try to enhance it ... sorry."

"That's alight. You got us the car and that's all that matters. There aren't many Shelby GT 500's of that year around here. The number plate is also a dead end right?" she guessed and he nodded in response.

"Okay guys!" she announced turning around to face them. "We're looking for a 1967 Shelby GT 500 of a blaze red colour. We'll inform the Chief first and then head out. We pull over every Mustang of that description, got it?"

They all nodded.

"Good, now come on. It's time to show them what happens when you mess with the Hooligans" she said as she grabbed her keys. The others followed her as they made their way to the paved driveway in front of the house where the cars were parked. Astrid and Ruff hopped into her car while the guys got in the black Lincoln SUV. "Okay guys, the plan is to split up. Ruff and I will take Santa Monica while you guys look around downtown L.A, got it?"

"Got it" they all replied.

"What if we don't find them?" Fishlegs asked over the radio.

"Then we keep searching until we find them. We won't let these bastards get away with stealing from us" she hissed as she shifted the car into first gear.

_000_

Hiccup was ecstatic. With Dwight, his crew and his connections, his own future as a gang boss would take off. He already had an outstanding second-in-command who had proven his loyalty the moment he walked out of his dad's house with him. He pulled out his phone and went to Ripper's contact information.

"Hello, this is Ripper. As you can see I'm unavailable but please leave a message" the voice recorder went off and the familiar beep.

"Hey Ripper, the deal went through. Dwight and his gang will be working for us. I'm heading back to Heather's now" he said and hung up. But that's when it hit him. When he had asked Ripper to drop him off near the car show-room, he said he'd be going to Heather's to celebrate. "Maybe I should just head back home" he said to himself since he didn't want to be scarred by the image of Ripper and Heather having sex. He stopped at a red light, giving him a chance to plan out the future deals.

Mr. Maverick did say he'd contact him again, so that would be an extra 200 hundred thousand there. Dwight and his crew specialize in distributing cocaine and crystal meth so that would also bring in a ton of green. He estimated that by next month, they should have enough money to buy a nice house in Santa Monica; probably something up in the hills, overlooking the city.

"I've always liked the skyline of L.A" he muttered.

There weren't any cars going the other way, a few lights in the distance but nothing else. But that's when he became nervous when two cars passed him. They were a black Camaro. The windows were tinted, but he saw the number plates. He knew the Camaro belonged to a dangerous blonde. If his memory served him right, they never operated during the night; or on extreme rare occasions. And if they were ... they wouldn't be looking like they needed to get to a place in a rush.

This was a hit or worse. And it was the worst possible time to start becoming paranoid.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this" he muttered as he turned to follow them, from a safe distance of course. But following someone in an Aston Martin wasn't entirely discreet.

"I gotta find out what they're after" he said as he pulled out his phone again. Being a tech wiz did come with many benefits, such as allowing him to hack into his former friends com's and hear what they're saying.

"...D... you see anything ... Ruff?" he heard Astrid's voice.

"Nope. Don't see any blaze red Mustang" Ruff said. His heart dropped. There would only be one reason why they're searching for a blaze red Mustang.

"SHIT!" he yelled as he smacked his hands on the steering wheel. Honestly, he did want to know whose drugs they stole. "Well the only explanation is that Snotlout hid them" he muttered. But that still didn't stop him from the blatant fact that he stole from his old gang.

"How come Fishlegs couldn't get a good picture of the number plate?" Ruff asked.

"Apparently the camera wasn't that good and couldn't focus much onto the car" Astrid explained.

"So we have no idea who they are?"

"We can only speculate" replied Astrid.

Hiccup let out a small breath of relief. They didn't know who stole the drugs, just the description of the car they were in. That still wasn't good. That meant they'd be looking for that exact car. And since these were the Hooligans, with the fact that they stole over one million dollars worth of drugs, they wouldn't stop hunting them.

"Better get the down payment for that house now" he said as he turned off at the following traffic signal. He had to get Ripper first. He had the car and if it was in plain sight in front of Heather's building, then they'd both be screwed. He got Ripper's number on his screen and pressed the call button, but after about ten seconds was met with voice-mail.

"I'm really gonna regret interrupting them" he said under his breath as he pulled in front of the apartment building. He thanked all the Gods that were out there when he saw the Mustang wasn't parked on the streets. "Must be in the multi-storey car park" he said to himself as he stopped the car in the parking space in front of the building and went inside, removing his mask and rushing to the elevators.

_000 (Meanwhile)_

"Did you see that car that was following us?" Astrid asked as she looked into her rear and door mirrors to no longer see the car.

"What car are you talking about?" Ruff asked, as she leaned her elbow to get some air.

"There was a car following us ... an Aston Martin to be exact."

"Ooh, a rich guy. Maybe he could be an easy target?" Ruff suggested as she glanced to her mirror but the excitement went away when she didn't see it.

"It turned off at the last traffic light. I noticed it followed us for one whole minute before turning off."

"You're being paranoid, Astrid. It was probably some lawyer guy heading back to his luxury apartment" Ruff waved her hand dismissively.

"Not when he turned right and did the exact same thing again. I'm telling you, he followed us for a reason that I don't know of yet" she pressed on.

"If we go and search for this car, will it put your mind at rest?" Ruff asked.

Astrid smiled, "I'm glad you see things my way now" she said as she did an abrupt U-turn and made her way to the road that the Aston turned off on.

_000_

"How was desert?" Ripper asked as he hovered over Heather. He had the bed sheets up to his back, covering the both.

"Hmm, I could go seconds" she said with a mischievous smile as she pressed her hips against his now hardened length.

"Prepare for another out of this world situation, my lady" he muttered into her neck as he pressed into her, eliciting a moan from them both. However, the two couldn't enjoy it for long.

"Ripper!" Hiccup called as they heard the front door open.

"Fuck" Ripper muttered as he pulled out and laid next to Heather, pulling up the covers, just in time as Hiccup came to the room. "You really do have lousy timing, don't you?"

"Not when I'm trying to save your life, I don't" he said as he leaned against the doorway.

"What are you doing here anyway? Couldn't you see we were in the middle of something?"

"Be glad I called out instead of walking in on you two while fucking. Anyway, the Hooligans are on to us" Hiccup gave him the news straight away. Ripper stopped shuffling beneath the covers as both he and Heather stared with shocked faces at Hiccup.

"So they know it's _us _specifically?" Ripper asked.

"Look, after the deal with Dwight, to which he agreed, and after buying myself a new car, and saw Astrid's Camaro drive by me and you know as well as I do they hardly operate at this time of the night. So I decided to follow them and I hacked her com's. She and Ruffnut were looking for a blaze red 1967 Mustang. The one-"

"The we drive" Ripper cut him off. "Shit! This isn't good. We have to get out of here" he said as he pulled back the covers.

"WOAH! Wait until I'm out of the room will you!?" Hiccup yelled as he slammed the door shut.

"You did that on purpose didn't you?" Heather asked as he reached for his clothes that were strewn on the ground.

"He deserved it for walking in on us" he retorted.

"You're unbelievable" she threw a pillow at him and smiled as he simply ducked out of the way.

"But you still love me" he said as he slipped his pants on and went out the door.

"I seriously hope it was worth coming here and ruining my chance at seconds" Ripper said as he put on his dress shirt, smoothing out the crumples and retrieving his tie and suit jacket from the couch.

"They're searching for my car, Ripper! What if you had been on the road out there and they caught you?" Hiccup theorized. "They're looking for a blaze red Mustang from 1967. Now I don't know how many other 1967 Shelby GT 500's out there but my guess is not that many here in L.A" he said as he paced around the main room.

"Calm down will you. It's in the multi-storey car park, not on the streets" Ripper said as he put his dress shoes on and went to a mirror placed above Heather's work desk to straighten out his tie and make sure he looked good.

"They could be checking that as well. I'm telling you we have to get back to our apartment and work on buying a new house soon" he said as he opened the door to leave. Ripper grabbed his mask and fedora along with his pistol that he kept on him at all times.

"Alright, we'll head out first - I want to see this new car you bought, what is it?" he asked as they put their masks on and adjusted the voice manipulators underneath them. With a final look in the mirrors that made up the inside of the elevator's walls, they placed their fedora's on and walked out to the front entrance as soon as the elevators' doors opened.

"You're gonna love it. It's an Aston Martin DB9 in Ga-" he stopped himself as they walked outside. Two blondes were leaning against the car, staring right at them. Hiccup was thanking the Gods that they kept their disguises with them at all times.

"Are we going to a play, gentlemen? Or the opera?" Astrid snickered as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked at them with amusement.

"Everyone's a comedian" Ripper muttered, but with the voice manipulator, it came out as the voice that people use when making ransom calls.

"They're even prepared for one. And apparently it pays well" Ruffnut said as she ran her hand along the hood of the car, up to the door mirror. Ripper saw out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup curl his fists into a ball; and apparently so did Astrid.

"You don't have to worry about us stealing your car-"

"Yet" Ruff butted in.

"-But this car happened to be the exact same one that tailed us for a whole minute before turning off down this road. So tell me, why were you following us?"

Ripper glanced at Hiccup who felt his gaze and even though they could only see each other's eyes, Ripper was giving him a look that said 'how thick were you to realize that they could follow you?' and he could tell that Hiccup was smiling sheepishly under his mask. "We're waiting" Ruff yelled.

"I got lost for a while and hoped ... by driving down the road I could find a familiar street" Hiccup said, but Astrid didn't buy it.

"Tell me one more lie, and I'll empty a round-" she pulled her jacket away to reveal a gun at her hip "-into the both of you. What were you doing following us?" she asked again.

"That's none of your concern" Ripper answered. "And if you want to start a gun fight-" He moved his jacket to the side and reached for his firearm, "-I'd be happy to oblige."

"Do you know who we are?" Ruff asked, laughing as she pulled two pistols from the hem of her pants and aimed them at the two of them. Ripper reached to pull his pistol out, as did Hiccup, but...

"Hands down!" Astrid yelled as she pulled her firearm and aimed it at Hiccup. Hiccup didn't miss the death threat in her eyes. If he or Ripper made one wrong move, she and Ruff would open fire. "I'm going ask you two again nicely ... who are you and why were you following us?"

"Isn't it obvious? They must have thought robbing us but decided against it. Unluckily for you guys, you picked the wrong car" said Ruff.

"Actually he was driving, he came to pick me up" Ripper cleared up for them.

"Oh, so he was going for backup ... I say we take them out now" Ruff said to Astrid.

"That would be a big mistake" a new voice said. They all turned their attention to the source of it to see another guys dressed in the same attire as Hiccup and Ripper aiming a Glock at the two girls. That's when they noticed two other, dark blue 2013 Range Rovers pulling up close to where they were with seven men getting out altogether and aiming their AK 47's ... all dressed in the same attire. "Sorry we're late boss" Hiccup knew exactly who it was. Dwight. He was not using a voice manipulator but that's because he never dealt with Astrid and Ruff before; or the Hooligans for that matter.

"What do you think you're doing holding up our boss?" he asked, looking at the two of them.

"And you are?" Astrid replied.

"That's on a need to know basis ... and you're not on that list" he said, gesturing with his Glock. "Now, you can either be good little scout girls and go home or me and my crew will help deliver you home" he said, and for emphasis his men raised their guns and aimed them right their heads.

"Who the hell are you guys?!" Astrid shouted at Hiccup, not lowering her gun and ignoring Ruff's hand on her shoulder as she told her it might be a good idea to back off ... for now.

"Boys, lower your weapons" Hiccup told _his _new crew. They gave one look to their new leader before lowering their guns to their waists, but kept their fingers at the trigger in case. He then looked down at Ruffnut and Astrid, his former acquaintances. That's when he realized that this was his chance to introduce himself as _Night Fury_. This was his chance to establish himself and his new gang. And where better to do it than in front of Ruff _and _Astrid ... most likely the future Chief of the Hooligans.

"You want to know who I am?" he asked as he walked down the stairs that led to the front entrance. Astrid didn't take her eyes off him as he walked down, holding that curious scowl. He almost felt like it was old times. As he got in her face he pushed the gun she held her arm down so that he wouldn't be staring down its barrel. "Do you really want to know who I am?" he asked again as he came within inches of her face, looking down into her eyes. As he bore down into her irises, he couldn't help but admire their beauty; the fire and determination behind them - even though it was projected as anger and confusion towards him ... and he marveled it.

"L.A is prime territory for a gang like mine to make a new start. And as you can see ... I think we have fair chance in the gang wars if we have two members of the infamous Hooligans' at my mercy" he began.

"Forgive me if I'm not wowed by your predicament" Astrid said with a shake of her head and an unimpressed look.

"That's quite alright. Even I wouldn't give two shits about some newcomer. I mean you must be thinking what can I do? Huh?" he asked, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Well let me tell you something blonde" he emphasized the 'e' in the word, "I'm not to be taken lightly. _We're _not to be taken lightly. The deals you have, the clients you hold oh so dear to you, and the people you work with, will all come crashing down when I'm through with you and your gang" he snarled in her face, although she didn't seem fazed by it. He was sure the extremely deep voice would send shivers up her spine but then he realized this was Astrid Hofferson.

"Why are you out for blood against the Hooligans?" she asked, not stepping away from him.

"Oh ... it's not just you I'm after. The Berserkers, Outcasts, Bog Burglars, Meatheads ... they'll come crashing down once I'm through with them. I know these may seem like empty threats ... but I've heard of you, Astrid Hofferson" he said and he saw the briefest moments of shock on her face.

"How do you-"

"Know your name?" he finished her sentence. "I do my homework, Astrid. Did you really think I was some two-bid boss who thought he could take over L.A? My dear, you will surely fail against me if you think like that" he said with a chuckle, walking around her.

"I have information on each and every single member of all the gangs here, and I intend on exploiting them to the bone" he warned. "That's how I should play isn't it? I mean, technically we're at a disadvantage since no one has heard of us-" he stopped in front of her and cupped her cheek in his hand holding her tight and right in his face. Ruff made a move and aimed her pistols at his head but stopped when she felt the barrel of a gun pressed against her skull. She glanced to her right and saw the man who had been standing next to Hiccup the whole time staring back at her with emotionless eyes.

"But rest assured ... soon everyone will _know _and _fear _the name ... Night Fury" he said, faces just an inch apart before releasing her and wiping his hand on his pants. "Now, please be so kind and leave before my men here decide to send a message to the Hooligans" he said. Astrid rubbed the spot where he held her by the face and nearly snarled at him. But she knew very well they were beaten this round. There were just too many of them; and whoever this man was ... he was not afraid to spill blood. _  
_

"Come on, Ruff. Let's get out of here" she said as she walked past the men and to her Camaro that was parked a few spaces down. Ripper tucked his gun back in while he came to stand beside Hiccup as he and their new gang watched the girls open the doors of the car.

"This isn't over!" Astrid yelled back, making eye contact with Hiccup.

"I was hoping it wasn't" Hiccup replied. "But be warned, Miss Hofferson ... I know _everything _about you. What do you know about me?" he left her with the question as she shot him a death glare and hopped into her car.

And in a few seconds, they were out of sight ... both girls weary of the new threat who calls himself Night Fury.


End file.
